BOULDER — The Buffaloes who played football during the past four years saw all their blood, sweat and tears rewarded with 34 — count ’em, thirty-four — disheartening losses. So how many victories can players from the CU class of 2017 reasonably expect, after signing up as the first recruits of new coach Mike MacIntyre?

“Here’s what I tell them, OK? They’re getting on the roller coaster. They’re all excited. Buckled in. And here we go,” MacIntyre said, making sound effects of a coaster slowly creeping up a ramp toward the first big, high-speed thrill. “And sometime in the next four years — quickly, I think — they’re going to hit it and they’re going to be able to ride it down.”

Hang on, this figures to be a wild, stomach-churning ride.

Here’s the little fib that the Colorado athletic department has told university leaders, football boosters and potential recruits: Membership in the Pac-12 Conference will accelerate the Buffaloes’ return to football glory.

Can we please stop with that garbage?

I would argue the move to the Pac-12 in 2011 not only doomed coach Jon Embree to failure, but also actually hampered the growth of a football program that was unprepared in almost every way to compete with Oregon, Stanford and Southern Cal.

Being in a conference where the closest beach is 1,000 miles away from Boulder doesn’t mean a thing to CU football, unless the Buffs start winning.

Let’s compare the last three recruiting classes between Colorado and Kansas, a football program the Buffs left behind when they departed the Big 12. Both teams have been inept on the field during the past three seasons. CU’s record from 2010-12 was a depressing 9-28, while KU suffered through a 6-30 record during the same time frame. Coaches got fired. Charlie Weis replaced Turner Gill for the Jayhawks, while MacIntyre has been asked to clean up the mess left by Embree and Dan Hawkins.

But during the past three years, if you believe the recruiting analysts at Rivals.com, Kansas has attracted a better overall class of prep football player than the Buffs. Since 2011, Rivals has rated three CU recruiting classes an average of No. 59 in the country. Not exactly the stuff of a future Rose Bowl contender. And what of poor, pitiful Kansas, stuck on the dusty prairie of the Big 12? No. 51.

So forget gaining on the mighty Ducks or Trojans. Since turning an eye toward the Pac-12, the Buffs have lost ground to lowly KU.

MacIntyre won big in the Western Athletic Conference, a league disdained by proud CU boosters. I asked MacIntyre the response of prep prospects when flashing players his new business card, which shows he now coaches alongside UCLA’s Jim Mora or USC’s Lane Kiffin in the Pac-12.

“I think it does make a difference with the Pac-12 card being left. I think (players) kind of perk up with that,” MacIntyre said.

But blue-chippers don’t get up and leave the beach for the Rocky Mountains without good reason.

The reality is: For Colorado to climb out of the Pac-12 cellar, MacIntyre will have to prove he is a coach capable of winning with inferior talent.

Visit denverpost.com each weekday near noontime for a serving of dish concerning Colorado’s sporting landscape from a Denver Post sports writer. Care for another helping? Visit the Lunch Special archive.

WASHINGTON — Thirty games into the 82-game NHL season, and nearly six weeks after the Matt Duchene trade, Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic discussed the state of his team before Tuesday’s 5-2 loss at the Washington Capitals.